Real Time Monitoring for the Most Vulnerable: Yemen Social Protection Monitoring Survey 2011–2012

Yemen has confronted multiple emergencies prompted, in part, by a protracted political crisis but the impacts of these emergencies on household wellbeing were not well understood. This UNICEF monitoring project sought to fill the information gap by providing panel data, taken at biweekly intervals, from beneficiaries of the government of Yemen's Social Welfare Fund (SWF). With the use of iPads from the second phase of the pilot, data collectors entered household responses directly into data files, which were then uploaded into a common dataset. The analytic report, along with several tables of key indicators was distributed to a list of approximately 100 recipients via email. Despite interesting results with important humanitarian implications, use of the monitoring results has been inconsistent. Opportunities to respond pre?emptively to emerging problems have been missed. As the project scales up, an important revision will be to better integrate and strengthen data analysis and programmatic response

Black aesthetics in children\u27s literature

The purpose of my research is to show that although many African American children’s books have been used as “race texts” to give children insight into race relations of the past, many are important in that they preserve the Black dialect and encourage child activism and social change. Black aesthetics are most beneficial in that they educate children about not just race but about the African American oral tradition of Black dialect. They also provide children with a strong foundation in Black aesthetics, which prepares them for the higher forms of Black aesthetics found in African American adult literature. Not only is African American children’s literature just as political as African American adult literature, but it also preserves the Black dialect. Most important, African American children’s literature adds diversity to the study of children’s literature in that educators, parents, and librarians are better able to teach and appreciate its aesthetic value. Thus, my research project will reveal how African American children’s books are not just “artifacts of race” but “artifacts of aesthetics.

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe formed elements of blood perform essential functions and are necessary for survival. Red blood cells transport oxygen to tissues, platelets maintain hemostasis and leukocytes provide host defense. In addition to these autonomous roles, blood cells are able to communicate with one another to execute complex physiological processes. Platelet interactions with leukocytes and endothelium regulate diverse inflammatory responses. Platelet-monocyte interactions result in robust cytokine production in monocytes. Neutrophils receive signals from platelets which can result in transendothelial migration or neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation. Many of the mechanisms by which these processes are regulated have only been recently discovered. Here we report that platelets are able to sequester exogenous ribonucleic acid (eRNA). This uptake is time and dose dependent and is unique to platelets of the cells examined so far. Uptake of eRNA does not require activation of platelets or alter the ability of platelets to respond to thrombin. While the fate of this sequestered eRNA has yet to be determined, our observations represent the first report of this novel capacity of platelets. Our interest in platelet and leukocyte biology also led us to develop a genetic screen to identify genes required for NET formation. The nearly haploid human cell line, KBM-7, was determined to be competent to form NETs, and a retroviral gene-trap mutagenesis strategy was employed to generate a pool of mutants to assay for defects in NET formation. Due to technical limitations, the screen was unable to be executed as designed, but advances in bioinformatics may allow a modified version of the screen to be performed in the near future. Throughout the body of this work, we have used traditional techniques combined with modern innovations to interrogate the functions of platelets and leukocytes. The knowledge gained in these investigations will improve our understanding of these essential cells and provide new avenues for research and therapeutic interventions in the future

Underlying Factors Contributing To Presenteeism And Absenteeism

Modern workplaces must learn how to respond effectively to two trends which can cost employers billions of dollars each year in lost productivity: presenteeism and absenteeism.   In 2010, the annual cost of presenteeism, $180 billion, surpassed the cost of absenteeism,$118 billion (Weaver, 2010).  According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (2006), presenteeism is defined as “the practice of coming to work despite illness, injury, anxiety, etc., often resulting in reduced productivity”.   According to Dictionary.com Unabridged (n.d.), absenteeism is defined as “habitual failure to appear, especially for work or other regular duty”.  In the past, the main attributable factor for presenteeism and absenteeism was workers being sick; however, this research uncovered other underlying causes for this phenomenon.  In addition, this research expanded the existing research and found other ways employees cost employers in lost productivity, one of which included conducting personal business during working hours. The research concluded, through the use of Chi-Square tests for independence, there was dependency between some of the variables

Breast Health and Preventive Screening

Breast health and its importance in every stage of a woman’s life is discussed from adolescence, across the life span, and addressing the aging process. The importance of self-breast exams, clinical breast exam, and screening mammograms play an integral part of ensuring early detection of breast cancer. The risk factors, genetic mutations, and how breast cancer is triggered is discussed. The advancements in screening recommendations, genetic testing, and treatments is explored and what innovative approaches are being taken to prevent, treat, and cure breast cancer

High level of agreement in a fixed vs. live cell-based assay for antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein in a real-world clinical laboratory setting

IntroductionAs recognition of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease becomes more widespread, the importance of appropriately ordering and interpreting diagnostic testing for this antibody increases. Several assays are commercially available for MOG testing, and based on a few small studies with very few discrepant results, some have suggested that live cell-based assays (CBA) are superior to fixed CBA for clinical MOG antibody testing. We aimed to determine the real-world agreement between a fixed and live CBA for MOG using two of the most commonly available commercial testing platforms.MethodsWe compared paired clinical samples tested at two national clinical reference laboratories and determined the real-world agreement between the fixed CBA and live CBA.ResultsOf 322 paired samples tested on both platforms, 53 were positive and 246 were negative by both methodologies (agreement 92.9%, Cohen’s kappa 0.78, [0.69-0.86]). Spearman correlation coefficient was 0.80 (p < 0.0001). Of the discrepant results, only 1 of 14 results positive by the live CBA had a titer greater than 1:100, and only 1 of 9 results positive by the fixed CBA had a titer of greater than 1:80. Lower titers on the fixed CBA correlate to higher titers on the live CBA.ConclusionOverall, there is excellent agreement between fixed and live CBA for MOG antibody testing in a real-world clinical laboratory setting. Clinicians should be aware of which method they use to assess any given patient, as titers are comparable, but not identical between the assays

Associations between adjustment disorder and hospital-based infections in the Danish population.

OBJECTIVE:There is some evidence that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased risk of infections, and it is unknown whether adjustment disorder is as well. We assessed the association between adjustment disorder and subsequent infections, and assessed additive interaction with sex. METHODS:The study population included a nationwide cohort of all Danish-born residents of Denmark diagnosed with adjustment disorder between 1995 and 2011, and an age- and sex-matched general population comparison cohort. We compared rates of infections requiring inpatient or outpatient hospitalization in the two cohorts. We fit Cox proportional hazards models to compute adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for the associations between adjustment disorder and 32 types of infections, and calculated interaction contrasts to assess interaction between adjustment disorder and sex. RESULTS:Adjustment disorder was associated with increased rates of infections overall (n = 19,838 infections, aHR = 1.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.8. 1.9), and increased rates of each individual infection type (aHRs for 30 infections ranged from 1.5 to 2.3), adjusting for baseline psychiatric and somatic comorbidities and marital status. For many infection types (e.g., skin infections, pneumonia), interaction contrasts indicated rate differences were greater among men than women, while for two (urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted infections), rate differences were greater for women. CONCLUSIONS:These findings are consistent with studies examining the relationship between psychological stress and infections, and between PTSD and infections. They may be explained by a combination of the triggering of unhealthy behaviors as well as immune responses to stress